MEET JUSTIN

Frederick County has been Justin’s home since he was five years old and his family moved to Maryland from Northwestern Pennsylvania. Growing up in Walkersville, he graduated from Walkersville High School in 1997 then attended The George Washington University where he earned a degree in Communications and studied Political Science.

While still in college, Justin joined the Presidential Campaign of Former Transportation and Labor Secretary Elizabeth Dole, starting as a volunteer and working his way up to joining the Campaign Finance staff. Following the campaign, he went to work for Jack Kemp and Bill Bennett as a Policy Intern at Empower America. He returned to Elizabeth Dole’s office in 2000, where he served as Secretary Dole’s Special Assistant and Scheduler for the next two years.

Having “grown up” at the feet of such luminaries and true public servants as Jack Kemp, Bill Bennett, and Bob and Elizabeth Dole, he learned how service and doing what is right is far more important than politics. While it may sound idealistic, Justin believes serving one’s community, at any level, is a serious responsibility and a true honor.

Always interested in business and government, Justin was also very involved with the area’s theatre community starting when he was at Walkersville High School. In 2002, he returned to Frederick when he and his family purchased and took over operations of The Way Off Broadway Dinner Theatre, where he is currently the company’s President and Managing Director. He is also the Chairman of WOB LIVE! Entertainment, the division of Way Off Broadway that handles all of the company’s activities outside of the theatre itself.

Sixteen years as a business executive, in an industry that was hit particularly hard during the economic downturn, taught Justin the importance of adaptability, creative problem solving, and how to make the tough decisions that sometimes have to be made for the overall good of the organization. Theatres across the country, and right here in the National Capital Region, were forced to close their doors - but because of strong, pragmatic leadership and fiscal prudence, Way Off Broadway weathered the economic crisis and emerged stronger for it.

His years in business have only strengthened his belief that practical, common sense solutions are what is needed in a leader. And that those leaders should always say what they mean and mean what they say. With Frederick County's Charter government still so new, proven leaders are needed to continue to guide the county into the future.

Active in the community, Justin was appointed to the Board of Directors of what would become The Golden Mile Alliance in 2012 by Frederick City Mayor Randy McClement. The organization was originally created as an ad hoc committee of the city with the purpose of helping to revitalize the Golden Mile Corridor. Upon the group's incorporation into an independent 501(c)3, Justin was elected to the Executive Committee where he became the Secretary of the Board. In 2014, he was elected President of The Golden Mile Alliance - a position he held for three terms until 2017.

In 2014, as a candidate for the newly formed County Council, Justin criss-crossed Frederick talking about the importance of the new Charter government and the role the Council should play in the future.

Since 2015, Justin has written a regular column for both the Woodsboro/Walkersville Times and the Emmitsburg News-Journal.

Justin and his wife, Jessica, live in the WestWinds neighborhood of Lake Linganore in New Market.